There was Nothing They Could Do
by islashlove
Summary: It's been three years since Shawn had punched Lassiter that day in the bullpen. Lassiter thought that they had been happy for those three years, that they had gotten the old Shawn back. But how many people had to lose their lives before they had realised how wrong they had been. This is a slash and main character's death story.
1. Shawn had to Die

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is from Psych**

**Beta: Yes, I would like to say thank you to my Beta jerseybelle**

**Warning: This is a slash story. A main character's death. There is graphic description of torture, blood and gore and an evil Shawn. If you don't like these types of stories, please don't read. **

**Author's Notes: This story has been done for a word challenge on FanFiction .net Writers Unite. The word is 'Embrace'. **

**This is also the sequel to my story, "Who Do You Think You Are!". **

**Story Notes: It's been three years since Shawn had punched Lassiter that day in the bullpen. Lassiter thought that they had been happy for those three years, that they had gotten the old Shawn back. But how many people had to lose their lives before they had realised how wrong they had been.**

**There was Nothing They Could Do**

**Chapter 1: Shawn had to Die**

Detective Lassiter sat quietly on the hard wooden chair. His back was straight and rigid, shoulders square, legs together with feet slightly under the chair and as for his head, well...his head was just as rigid as the rest of his body. He just sat there, staring out into space and although his body was in the room, his mind was miles away, lost in the past.

"Freeze, this is the police!" Lassiter called out, his gun drawn and pointing at the man whose back was towards him.

They had been chasing this serial killer for months and he wasn't going to let him get away now. At least the man obeyed his command and stopped whatever he was doing, but what happened next will stay with Lassiter for the rest of his life.

As the man turned around, Lassiter could see behind him, a lifeless body that was tied to a chair. The man was naked and his body was covered in cuts. Some were fresh, others could have been days, even weeks, old. Which would work out right for how long they've known this man had been missing. But it wasn't the sight of the victim that got to Lassiter. It was who the perp was.

As the perp finished turning, Lassiter was greeted with a smile he knew well. At least one he thought he knew, but this one was twisted, full of smugness. "Lassie." Lassiter felt sick as his name slipped past that smile.

"Shawn? No, not you!" He couldn't believe it. Standing there, in front of the tortured body, was the man he loved.

Tightening his grip on his gun, Lassiter shook his head in hopes the scene before him would change, but it didn't. Instead, Shawn just tilted his head to the side and the grin grew even bigger as if he was enjoying Lassiter's discomfort. Lassiter swallowed hard and shifted his gun slightly when he noticed the knife in Shawn's hand. This seemed to make Shawn's eyes shine with glee and as if he knew what Lassiter was thinking, he too looked down at the knife in his hand. When Shawn looked back up at Lassiter, his eyes were now shining with laughter.

"This is your fault, Carlton. You do know that, right?"

_'God,'_ Lassiter thought to himself. _'It sounds just like him, but at the same time it doesn't sound like him at all.'_ "What do you mean, my fault?" Lassiter could hear that his own voice was shaking.

"What do I mean? What I mean, Lassie dear, is that I told you to kill me. To stop me before I became this person that now stands before you, but no, you knew best. You thought you could fix the damage that had been done. But you couldn't. You couldn't stop that which had already started.

He knew that this is who I was supposed to be. As a child. As an adult. He knew and he opened a world of pure pleasure for me. I use to fight this, but now...now I embrace it. I like the feel of the knife in my hand. I like how it feels as it slices across the flesh and I like hearing the muffled screams. Seeing the fear in their eyes and I love the way it makes me feel as I take their lives. As I push the knife slowly into their hearts. I can feel it beating through the knife itself. Getting slower and slower until it moves no more. But all their deaths are on you, because you couldn't let me go. You couldn't kill me when I begged you to."

"No, you had a choice. You could have sought help."

"I could have, but didn't and I don't want help. I like how I am and I don't want to stop. I'm having too much fun, but now, I'm sorry Lassie, but I'm going to have to kill you! I've been waiting for this day. I knew it would come. I knew that you would stop loving me and now that day has arrived."

Out of the corner of his eye, Lassiter saw Shawn raise the hand with the knife and then Shawn started to move towards him.

Backing away, Lassiter commanded. "Shawn, stop! Please stop, I don't want to have to shoot you."

The smile on Shawn's face told him that Shawn didn't believe him. "Really, Lassie! You are going to shoot me? I very much doubt it. You couldn't do it before when I wanted you to do it and you can't do it now."

"I'm warning you, stop moving and drop the knife!"

Shawn took one more step forward, never taking his eyes off Lassiter's. Then, it all suddenly slowed down.

In one smooth and quick movement, Shawn reached out with the knife, cutting Lassiter on the wrist. In that same moment Lassiter's gun went off. Even as he looked down to where the bullet had hit him and at the blood pouring out, Shawn never stopped smiling. As Lassiter watched Shawn's body fall to the floor, he pulled his injured wrist close to his chest.

The knife Shawn was holding fell from his grasp, hitting the ground with a soft clunk and somewhere in the distance, Lassiter could hear running, shouting and footsteps.

As Shawn's body hit the floor with a soft thud, everything started to speed back up to normal. Lassiter's ears started ringing from the noise the gun made being fired in an enclosed space. The voices and footsteps were closer and then O'Hara had appeared in his line of sight.

Moving carefully, she approached Shawn's lifeless body, gun at the ready and kicked the knife away from the body. Once she was sure that Shawn was no more a danger to them, she crouched down and placed two fingers to Shawn's neck. When she looked back at Lassiter he knew that Shawn was dead.

He didn't know what was worse, the fact that the man he loved was a cold-blooded killer or that Shawn was dead or the mixture of shock, sadness and guilt that was on O'Hara's face.

Somewhere behind O'Hara, Lassiter could hear McNab saying that the victim was also deceased, but he didn't care. In that split second, his world had been destroyed. He was in too much shock to really understand what was going on. All he could do was hold his injured arm and stare blankly at O'Hara as she called out to him.

"Detective Lassiter." He knew O'Hara was talking. He could see it, but it was a man's voice that was coming out.

"Detective," again, O'Hara spoke, but this time it was accompanied by a hand being placed on his shoulder.

Turning his head, Lassiter saw the doctor standing there, concern etched on his face. Lassiter now remembered that he is sitting in the doctor's waiting room. Looking down, he saw that he was gripping his arm, the one Shawn had sliced, close to his chest.

"Detective, are you...ready?"

Lassiter knew that the doctor was choosing his words, but he didn't care. In fact, he didn't care about anything anymore.

"Yes, Doctor, I'm ready." And with that the doctor gently led Lassiter into his office and closed the door.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	2. Three Years Earlier

**Chapter 2: Three Years Earlier**

It had been weeks since Shawn returned to work. Not that there was much for him to do, as the crime rate seemed to be down, but everyone enjoyed having the old Shawn back. Just seeing the psychic lifted the spirits of the station and better still, Detective Lassiter was a lot calmer and easier to work around.

It was on one of these quiet days that Shawn and Gus arrived bearing gifts of cakes, doughnuts and coffee. While everyone ate, Shawn slipped down to the morgue to see Woody.

"Woody, I come bearing sweet gifts," Shawn called out when he saw that the morgue was empty. But smiled when Woody walked out of one of the other rooms.

"Shawn, good to see you."

Walking over to Woody's desk, Shawn put down a plate of food and a cup of coffee. He watched as the older man's eyes widened with glee at the sight of the sticky, sweet food. Shawn watched with extra interest as Woody's hand hovered over the items for a second before he picked up a yellow glazed doughnut. He was just about to put it in his mouth, when Shawn let out a small chuckle.

Woody looked over to his old friend to see what was funny, only to freeze at the smile and glare that was aimed at him. It wasn't Shawn's normal smile. It was more like the spider that was about to suck out the guts of the fly in its web. Swallowing, Woody put the doughnut back down.

"Something wrong with the food, Woody?" Shawn smirked. Woody swallowed hard as he watched the grin on Shawn's face grow wider.

"No, but ..."

"Tell me again, Woody. What did you say to Lassie about me?" Shawn's voice was cold and harsh. He was still smiling, but the smile in Shawn's eyes was gone, replaced by an equally cold glare. A glare that made Woody shiver.

"What do you mean?"

"What. Did. You. Tell. Him?" Shawn snarled through gritted teeth as he leaned closer to Woody's face.

"Only the truth. I told him that you loved him and that he needed to accept it and man up about his own feelings about you."

Without taking his eyes off Woody, Shawn stretched his neck one way and then the other. The sound of Shawn's bones cracking echoed around the normally quiet morgue. "The truth! Only the truth, you say. Well Lassie says differently. Lassie has told me that you told him about my past, about my exes."

"Now look here, Shawn. We were all worried about you. What did you expect me to do? We were losing you and I didn't want to lose you. You're a good friend, Shawn and ..."

"And nothing!" Shawn spat. "You didn't win. Lassie...didn't win. You still lost me. At least the old me. But it doesn't matter," Shawn continued as he started to walk around the morgue, picking up things as he went. Finally, he stopped in front of the latest body lying on the slab. Picking up a scalpel, Shawn focused on the blade. "I like the new me and that is the most important thing, right? That I like who I am."

"Of course it is. That you like who you are. It's very important." Woody said as he watched Shawn smile at the blade as he moved to the other side of the body.

"Good! It's also very important to me that I can trust you." Shawn eyes swiftly move away from the blade and into Woody's eyes. "I can trust you, can't I, Woody?"

"Yes! Completely! You can trust me with anything, any time."

The smile that Woody knew and loved returned to Shawn's face, so he let out a sigh of relief and lent slightly on the body between them. But that sigh quickly changed to an anguish cry of pain as Shawn grabbed one of Woody's hands, pressing the blade of the scalpel deep into his flesh.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Shawn! Please...you're hurting me." This only made Shawn press the blade even deeper. "YES! Yes, you can trust me."

"Good, we wouldn't want to see you have some sort of accident, now would we?"

"No!" Woody gasped through gritted teeth.

"Shawn, there you are," Lassiter said as he entered the morgue.

Woody watched as the cold look and feeling that was there only a second ago, disappeared and was replaced by the warm, loving Shawn they were all so fond of. The pain eased in his hand as the blade was removed and put down beside the body. To prove to Shawn he could be trusted, Woody quickly hid his bleeding hand in his pocket. For this, he received an approving nod from Shawn.

"Lassie, missed me?" Shawn then said as he skipped over to the clueless detective.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to after bringing all that food."

I brought some down to my friend, Woody. He always misses out. Don't you?"

"If you say so. Now, off you two go, so I can finish off this autopsy."

"Ok, and don't forget to eat the sweets that I brought especially for you."

Woody looked over to the plate sitting on his desk and then back at the man that brought them to him. "I won't and think you for thinking about me, Shawn."

"Come on, Shawn. One of the reasons I came looking for you is, a body just washed up on the beach."

"Cool, a case. About time. I was getting bored and was about to start to have some fun just to kill time. See you later, Woody."

Woody didn't answer Shawn. Instead, he just waited for them to leave so he could go and clean up his injured hand. The cut was deep and he needed stitches, but that wasn't what was bothering him the most. It was how Shawn changed so quickly. One minute he was his happy-go-lucky self and the next minute he was so cold and calculating that he didn't even flinch when he was hurting him. But even that didn't worry him the most. What did worry him the most was the fact that Shawn himself admitted that they had failed to save him and that the Shawn they all love, is truly gone.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	3. Shawn's First Victim Arrives on the Tide

**Authors Note: This chapter was brought o you by the word of the week, Murder.**

**Chapter 3: Shawn's First Victim Arrives on the Tide**

Lassiter and Juliet were just getting out of their car when Gus and Shawn arrived at the beach. They waited until Shawn and Gus joined them before they all walked down the stairs and onto the white sand.

"Looks like a drowning, Lassie. Why call us in?" Shawn asked as he eyed off the body.

Even from this distance Shawn could see the ripped suit, the great slash down the man's face and the fact that he had no shoes on. But he wasn't ready to admit that.

"We still need to investigate, Spencer. You know that," Lassiter replied as they reached the body.

"Ahh...doesn't look like he drowned to me, Shawn," Gus said as he tried to suppress his gag reflex.

Shawn turned to face his friend and a small quiet giggle escaped his lips as he watched Gus squirm in discomfort. "It also looks and smells like he's been dead for a while. The smile on Shawn's face grew as his statement caused Gus to run to the nearby garbage can to empty his stomach.

**"Not funny, Shawn," Juliet said when she saw the smile.**

**Juliet knew that Shawn and Gus had a strange friendship, but Shawn seemed to be getting too much enjoyment out of Gus's predicament right now.**

**Shawn turned his smile towards Juliet, who shivered at the sight. Lassiter, who was too busy with the body, didn't see the exchange. But Juliet did see Shawn give her partner a quick glance before the smile turned into a smirk.**

**"Looks like it's murder," Lassiter called out.**

**"Really, what makes you say that?" Shawn called back as his expression returned to normal.**

**As Juliet watched Shawn walk over to Lassiter and the body, she wondered what was going on. Had she imagined that look Shawn had just given her? A look like...No! She had to have imagined it. So she just joined Lassiter and Shawn by the body.**

**"Well, for starters...he has a stab wound in his chest and it also looks like he could have been tortured." Lassiter lifted the open shirt revealing all the cuts on the chest.**

**Once again, Shawn smiled as the feeling of ecstasy washed over him. The same feeling that he got when he tortured and finally killed his first victim. His victim being this empty body that he had drained of life, which now laid before him on the sand.**

**Shawn could remember the first time he placed the blade to the hot skin and the release of the red elixir that ran down the body and onto the floor. In fact, Shawn remembered every cut and burn and the enjoyment grew as he experimented with different ways to cause pain.**

**But the victim had died too quickly; too fast when he had cut the wrong vein and bled to death. But Shawn didn't mind too much. After all, there were plenty of victims out there for him to choose from. Like Woody or Juliet, if they don't keep their noses out of his business. But right now, he has enough to keep himself occupied.**

**"Oh," Shawn suddenly said as he pretended to feel faint. Putting his hand to his temple, Shawn clenched his eyes together and started to talk gibberish. Finally, he let a name slip from his mouth. "Kane, his name, it's...Kane."**

**"Like in, Cain and Able?"**

**"No, with a K, not a C and...I also see, sugar cane...no...icing sugar...umm...some sort of white...powder."**

**"No, it can't be!" Lassiter said before kneeling down beside the body again.**

**"What is it?" Juliet asked as she bent down to see what Lassiter was doing.**

**Lassiter lifted up the left arm, revealing a tattoo of a small kitten. "Damn it!" he snapped. **

**"Who is he?" Gus called out from a safe distance.**

**"Lane Kane. He is...was the top cocaine dealer in New York. He went missing three weeks ago from his home and hasn't been heard from since."**

**"Until now," Juliet added.**

**"Yeah, until now. Whoever murdered him had guts."**

**_'Murder,' _****Shawn thought. **

**It felt funny hearing Lassie say that word...murder. It wasn't like this man was innocent. He had murdered plenty through his drugs.**

**"I don't see why you are so upset," Shawn said, before adding, "Good riddance to bad rubbish, I would say."**

**"It's not that, Shawn. It just means we have an even bigger problem to deal with. His people will be coming here looking for the person who did this."**

**"So?"**

**"It means, we could have a drug war on our hands," Juliet answered.**

**"Not much more we can do here. We need to get back to the station and fill the Chief in."**

**As they headed back to the cars, Lassiter grabbed an officer and pointed at the growing news reporters. "Don't let them anywhere near the body and if you think they have any pictures of the body, take their cameras. We can't let this get out."**

**"Yes, sir," the officer said taking the words as the order they were. He then grabbed another officer and they moved the crowd back even father.**

**Lassiter and the rest returned to their cars. What they didn't know was, Shawn had already taken photos with his phone and he had all the pictures of him torturing the men as well.**

**By the time they had all arrived back to the station, the torture video and beach pictures were already going viral on the internet.**

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	4. Three New Toys

**Authors Note: This chapter was brought o you by the word of the week, Sword.**

**Chapter 4: Three New Toys**

**Shawn and Gus left the station about an hour after they had arrived back from the beach. They had stayed for the briefing, but as Shawn had pointed out, they weren't any help as they tied to find out who had taken the photos and put them on the net. So instead, Gus headed off to his 'real' job while Shawn went shopping.**

**He was looking for two things; a new victim, as the one he had now was getting boring, and a new weapon to use. Even if just the sight of it was enough to cause fear. As he walked the streets of Santa Barbara, Shawn looked at every single person that passed him by. And with each one, he could see the best way to torture them. **

**The homophobic, it would be to rape them and make sure they enjoyed it. The mothers would be to torture their children in front of them. The priests...they would be fun. So many ways to do it with them, but none of these people, even though he could see it, interested Shawn. He was only interested in hurting those that were bad, like drug dealers, killers and crooks of all types. The worst they were, the better.**

**It wasn't long before Shawn came across a shop he had never seen before, a shop that sold weapons. Opening the door, he smiled as the little bell on the door announced his arrival. A small, fat man came scrambling out of the back somewhere. Shawn couldn't help but think that he looked a little like a troll coming out of his cave.**

**"Good morning and how may I help you this fine day?" the little man asked with a smile that nearly cut his face in half.**

**Shawn stood there for a few seconds thinking how it would be fun to actually cut this man's head in half like that before he answered. "Yes, sorry I've... got lots on my mind. I'm looking for some sort of unique weapon. Something not too many people have, if you know what I mean?"**

**"I think...I have just what you are looking for. Follow me please." The little man led Shawn towards the back of the store. **

**He reached the back wall where there was a cupboard and when he opened it up, Shawn's eyes glowed with excitement at the weapon's he saw. There were large axes, machetes and swords. **

**"So, what type are you after?"**

**"I could use all of these, but...I just need one right now," Shawn said as he reached out to take one of the axes, but he paused, looking at the man. "Can I?"**

**Shawn watched as the man looked him over and then nodded. "Yes, you may, but be careful, they are sharp."**

**Shawn continued his movement towards the axes, but once again, paused when another weapon caught his attention. Picking up the blade, he took in every detail. It had a long, slender blade that was double edged. The blade met up with the handle that had patterns of snakes all over it. Although it look heavy, it was rather light.**

**"You like the sword?"**

**"Yes, I do. How much?"**

**"Two hundred."**

**"Good, I will take this one, but I think I will be back for the others."**

**"Then follow me and we will finalise the sale."**

**As they walked back to the front, Shawn did think about killing the man and taking all the weapons, but changed his mind. After all, this man could get him a lot of other...items for his games. **

**As they reached the front, the little bell on the door went off and two men walked in. Shawn didn't miss the shop owner's reaction on seeing the two new customers. Even as he paid for the sword, Shawn kept an eye on the two men. He really didn't like them, but at the same time, he had the funny feeling his next victim would actually be two, not one.**

**As he left, he bumped into one of the men, apologised and left. Outside he used the keys he had lifted to find their car. Opening it up, he put the keys back in the ignition and then climbed in the back and laid down.**

**He could hear the two fighting about the keys as they left the shop, but it stopped when they saw that the keys were still in the car. Not looking in the back, they hopped in and started to drive. The passenger threw a bag in the back on top of Shawn, but he still didn't see him.**

**"What would be the chance he had a customer when we went in there?" one of the men said.**

**"Yeah, we got a bonus, that man's two hundred as well as the rest of the money," laughed the other.**

**Suddenly, Shawn sat up, hitting the passenger in the head with the base of the knife he was carrying, knocking him out. As soon as the knife hit the first one, he had it at the neck of the driver.**

**"Whoa, man. Look, you can have your two hundred back, just take it easy."**

**"I have a better idea, you just drive to where I tell you to go," Shawn replied as he pulled the driver's gun from his waist. "Now, doesn't that sound better?" Shawn pushed the gun into the man's side and removed the knife.**

**"Where do you want me to go?"**

**Smiling Shawn directed him to his hideout. Once there, he got the driver to carry his friend down to the basement, he then knocked out the driver with the butt of the gun. After tying up both men, Shawn placed his new toy on the table. **

**Shawn then went through the car and took out all the money, guns and anything else he could use. He planned on returning the money to the shop by using it to buy more toys. He wiped the car clean and then dumped it in the bay. It was now getting late, so he headed home to get dinner ready for him and Lassie.**

**Later that night, he will have fun with his three new toys. Until then, he will listen to the lies that Lassie will tell him, about how he loved Shawn so much.**

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	5. Torture

**Chapter 5: Torture**

It wasn't long before Lassie drifted off to sleep thanks to the pills he had slipped into Lassie's drink. After all, Shawn didn't need Lassie waking up while he was out having his fun.

Slipping out of bed, Shawn dressed and made his way quickly down to his hideout. He was itching for the thrill of seeing the pain in the two men's eyes. Shawn changed his clothes and as he entered, the smell of death, rotting flesh and blood excited his senses.

"Hello boys, you ready for some fun? I am."

The creaking of the chairs told Shawn he had been heard and that they had tensed up. 'Funny, he hadn't done anything...yet, but they seemed to be afraid of him. Good,' Shawn thought. The more they fear him, the more their body's will be tensed and the more the pain he will be able to inflict.

He flicked a switch and the room was flooded in bright light. The grunting from the two gagged men made Shawn laugh.

"Too bright for you? Don't worry, soon the light will be the least of your problems." Shawn watched as they flinched at the sound of him dragging the sword off the metal table. "Now," he continued as he placed the blade of the sword against the neck of one of the men. "You get to choose which one of you I play with first. So is it you or your friend."

Shawn walked around so he was facing the man. Ripping the gag off, Shawn raised one eyebrow and waited for an answer, pressing the blade a little harder, drawing blood. He had already made up his mind. If the man said his friend, he would kill the friend. If he was willing to sacrifices himself, he would still kill the friend, just to show the man what he had to look forward to.

"Me! Kill me," the voice was raspy and dry.

"I didn't take you as a coward. So, I will kill your friend. That way, you will know what's coming for you." The smirk made the man shiver.

Shawn then gently pulled the sword across the man's neck. Slowly and with a steady hand, it cut just the slightest. If the man had moved, it would have been all over for him, instead, fear kept him in place. The pain was so intense he couldn't scream out. Only tears left his eyes.

As soon as the tip of the sword left the skin, Shawn swung around, cutting the other man's arm. It wasn't deep, but deep enough to make him scream out a muffle cry.

"Is that all you have?" Shawn growled as he leaded in, gripping the cut and squeezing. The man involuntary threw his head back as the pain hot through his body. Biting down hard on the gag muffling his screams again. "Good, now let's play 'how long can you survive'."

Shawn straighten up, turned and smiled at the first man. He then turned back around and pushed the sword through the second man's shoulder. He was a little surprised at how easy the blade broke the skin and sliced its way through. It was just below the shoulder socket. Keeping hold of the sword's handle, Shawn walked to the side and with one quick pull up, the blade shattered the bone and broke free of the body.

"STOP IT! Please, you are killing him.

Looking down at the shoulder he saw blood pouring from the wound, soaking into the clothes and pooling on the floor.

"Not yet." Squeezing the shoulder, Shawn grabbed a bottle off the nearby table. Letting go, Shawn then poured the contents onto the wound, before using a lighter to ignite it. The room was instantly filled with the smell of gun power.

The mixed smell of gun powder, blood and burning flesh, tangled with the sound of muffled screams, only intensified Shawn's need to torture him more. Placing the sword down on the table, Shawn picked up a smaller knife. First he removed the gag and then cut off the man's clothes.

"Nice body."

"Th...th...thank...you." The second man struggle to get the words out as Shawn traced the knife over his bare skin…stopping at his groin.

Smiling, Shawn traced the knife back up the body, nipping here and there as he went. "No screams?" Shawn queered as he looked deep in the eyes. "You're boring me," he growled as he slit the man's throat. Once the man's gurgling breathes stopped, Shawn turned back to the other man.

"No, please."

"I will play with you later," Shawn smirked, before placing the gag back in place.

He then cleaned off his knife and sword and, before heading out, had a shower, changed back into the clothes he had worn there and headed home.

Crawling into bed Shawn gave Lassiter a deep kiss. In his drugged out state Lassiter kissed him back. "I think I will play with you next, Lassie my dear. I don't need to wait to hear you say those words. At least that way, I will get to remember you before you start to hate me."

Snuggling down, Shawn drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming about what he was going to do to Lassiter while he begs and tells him that he loves him.

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


	6. The Pain Will Go On Forever

**Chapter 5: The Pain Will Go On Forever**

Since Lassie was going to be his next victim, Shawn took his time with the one he had now. In the beginning, he tortured his victim with the body of his friend. Early on, he would draw blood and then the liquid from the rotting body and inject it into his victim. Or use it's bones to scratch or teeth to bit him all over. But soon, Shawn tired of this and the body was disposed of like all the others to wash up on a beach somewhere over night.

It was now he moved back to using is blades. Cutting ever so lightly, like a paper cut and them rubbing salt or vinegar into the wound. Or sometimes cutting deeper, so he could watch as the blood and the life, seep away. Of course, he never let his victim die. He wasn't quite ready for that.

But tonight, was the night, he was going to let his victim go. To...put him out of his pain, so to speak. As he prepared the tools he would use, the weak and near death victim watched on. Praying to a god he never believed in, that death would take him now.

Shawn stood over him. The blade in hand and a smile on his face, before he lent down and whispered. "Thank you. You have been a wonderful playmate, but it's time we went our own ways." Shawn then drew the blade across his victim's chest.

Meanwhile, Lassiter was hard at work. Another twisted and tortured body, or at least what was left of it, had washed up on the beach a few days ago. They know from the reports of missing persons this man they had identified had a friend that was also missing. It was a fair guess that the friend was heading for the same fate as this one had.

Looking over maps after maps, Lassiter felt he wasn't getting anywhere. It had been a few days since he had seen or talked to Shawn, but Lassiter knew that Shawn understood why. He was just glad that Shawn had decided to step back and leave this case alone. They both didn't need nightmare.

"Sir, I think I have found something," McNab's voice broke Lassiter's train of thought.

"What is it?"

"Here on this map. It shows an old slaughter house that isn't on the other maps. Where it is, if something was thrown into the water, the currents would carry it to the beach where we are finding the bodies."

'Good work, McNab." Lassiter praised as he grabbed the map and headed back out tot eh main bullpen. "Chief, McNab may have found out where our killer is."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Right, the task force will be ready in five minutes. Where are they going?"

"The old slaughter house on Barbarian road," he called out as he walked down the stairs with O'Hara and McNab following behind him.

The drive there was a quiet one. Lassiter had O'Hara to drive so he had time to check his gun and to try and ring Shawn, who didn't pick up. Sighing, he hung up and put the phone away and checked his gun again. After pulling up outside, they all re-checked their guns as they waited for the task force to arrive. Once it had, it took them five minutes to assemble and they moved in, Lassiter led the way.

Following each hallway and checking the doors as they go, the tension build and hung thickly in the air. Finally they headed down the stairs and that is when Lassiter saw him. It was only a silhouette, but it was standing over something. Nodding his head, the task force spread out and Lassiter moved closer.

"Freeze, this is the police!"

Shawn stopped what he was doing, smiled and whispered, "Lassie." before turning around.

Shawn's made sure that when he turned, he had taken a step sightly to the side, so Lassie could see his latest play toy. The look on Lassiter face, Shawn could never dream how delicious it could be. His smile grew even wider as he watched the sweat bead on Lassiter brow.

"Lassie," Shawn voice was twisted, full of smugness. Even though Lassie had a gun on him, Shawn knew he could never pull the trigger.

"Shawn? No, not you!"

Shawn watched as Lassiter tightened his grip on his gun. In fact, it was the only steady part of him, as the rest of Lassiter's body was shaking. From what, Shawn didn't know or care. All he care for was that Lassiter had come to him. He had more of less offered himself up to Shawn, to torture him. So no matter how this ended, Lassiter was going to feel the worst pain he has ever felt in his life and all thanks to Shawn.

Realising that Lassiter had noticed the blade in his hand, Shawn looked down, his eyes were shine with glee. He knew Lassie and he knew what his lover was thinking. Looking back up at Lassiter, Shawn's eyes were now full of laughter.

"This is your fault, Carlton. You do know that, right?"

"What do you mean, my fault?" Lassiter voice shook with fear. Fear that somehow Shawn was right and all of this is his fault.

"What do I mean?" The mocking in Shawn's voice was making Lassiter sick. "What I mean, Lassie dear, is that I told you to kill me. To stop me before I became this person that now stands before you, but no, you knew best. You thought you could fix the damage that had been done. But you couldn't. You couldn't stop that which had already started. He knew that this is who I was supposed to be. As a child. As an adult. He knew and he opened a world of pure pleasure for me. I use to fight this, but now...now I embrace it. I like the feel of the knife in my hand. I like how it feels as it slices across the flesh and I like hearing the muffled screams. Seeing the fear in their eyes and I love the way it makes me feel as I take their lives. As I push the knife slowly into their hearts. I can feel it beating through the knife itself. Getting slower and slower until...it moves no more. But all their deaths are on you, because you couldn't let me go. You couldn't kill me when I begged you to."

"No, you had a choice. You could have sought help."

"I could have, but didn't and I don't want help. I like how I am and I don't want to stop. I'm having too much fun, but now, I'm sorry Lassie, but I'm going to have to kill you! I've been waiting for this day. I knew it would come. I knew that you would stop loving me and now that day has arrived."

Shawn raise the knife and then slowly started to move towards Lassiter. One of them were going to die and Shawn really didn't care which one. As long as it was a painful death.

Backing away, Lassiter commanded. "Shawn, stop! Please stop, I don't want to have to shoot you."

Shawn didn't believe him, smiling he answered Lassiter pleads. "Really, Lassie! You are going to shoot me? I very much doubt it. You couldn't do it before when I wanted you to do it and you can't do it now."

"I'm warning you, stop moving and drop the knife!" Lassiter's voice had become commanding as the shock of it being Shawn left him and the threat of his life became real.

Shawn took one more step forward, never taking his eyes off Lassiter's. Then, in one smooth and quick movement, Shawn reached out with the knife, cutting Lassiter on the wrist. In that same moment Lassiter's gun went off.

Even as he looked down to where the bullet had hit him and at the blood pouring out, Shawn never stopped smiling. The knife Shawn was holding fell from his grasp, hitting the ground with a soft clunk, followed by his own body hitting the ground. As he breathed his last breath, Shawn wallowed in the joy, that no matter what, Lassiter will have to live with the fact that there was nothing he could have ever done to save him.

Somewhere in the distance, Lassiter could hear running, shouting and footsteps. The ringing in his ears distorted everything around him, but he still couldn't take his eyes off Shawn's body, but he couldn't move either to see if Shawn was still alive.

The next thing Lassiter knew was O'Hara appearing in his line of sight and blocking his view of Shawn. Moving carefully, she approached Shawn's lifeless body, gun at the ready and kicked the knife away. Once she was sure that Shawn was no longer a danger, O'Hara crouched down and placed two fingers to Shawn's neck. O'Hara looked back at Lassiter and he knew that Shawn was dead.

He didn't know what was worse, the fact that the man he loved was a cold-blooded killer or that Shawn was dead or the mixture of shock, sadness and guilt that was on O'Hara's face. But what echoed in his mind the most was that it was him, that fired the shot.

Somewhere behind O'Hara, Lassiter could hear McNab saying that the victim was also deceased, but he didn't care. In that split second, his world had been destroyed. He was in too much shock to really understand what was going on. All he could do was hold his injured arm and stare blankly at O'Hara as she called out to him.

For Lassiter, the following weeks were just a blur. They had found the drugs that Shawn had used on him and a list of all his victims. Of Course they had to investigate to see if Lassiter was part of it all and at one point, Lassiter was ready to hand in his badge. Instead, Chief Vick gave him time off to get himself sorted and Lassiter checked himself into mental home to get treatment.

Lassiter knew he would never be the same. None of them will be, but he was still alive and he needed to go on. To survive this and in time, he hoped he could forgive himself for everything that had happened.

**The End**

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


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